Charles G. Hogg, 3, was not retaliating against the mayor’s proposed budget cuts at the zoo, as some speculated. And he certainly did not mean to draw blood, the handlers said.

Rather than bare his teeth when shown a photo of Hizzoner yesterday, Chuck nuzzled it.

But a day earlier, when Bloomberg reached into his house and tried to take the food right off his plate, Chuck instinctively tried to defend himself. “He’s an animal,” Caltabiano said. “Animals react the only way they know how – with their teeth.”

Bloomberg yesterday quipped, “Chuck, I might point out, lives in a city-funded facility, the Staten Island Zoo, and he seems to have forgotten that old cardinal rule: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

“Although, this being an election year, if he’s right about an early spring, all will be forgiven.”

Caltabiano said that the mayor can rest assured – Chuck has proven to be an able prognosticator. “He’s predicting an early spring. And Chuck, unlike any other imposter, has been 80 percent accurate. I’d put my money on him any time,” he said.